How Much Does It Cost to Have The Bachelor Film in Your City?

You know how excited the leads on The Bachelor and Bachelorette sound when they announce their next travel location? How they often mention they’ve been dying to go to this city or that country? Well, it may be true, but there’s a lot more that goes into choosing the locations for the shooting of the show — and by “a lot more,” we mean money.

A recent article in the Santa Fe New Mexican revealed that next season’s star could take his group of lady lovers to the Southwestern town for Season 19. But how much does Santa Fe have to shell out to get the reality show to stop by its fair city? Oh, just around $100K dollars is all…

After you pick your mind parts up off the floor, consider the fact that the town shells out for food, hotel rooms, activities, the inconvenience to residents (with closed off streets and attractions to ensure privacy), and more. Executive director of the city's convention and visitors bureau Randy Randall (real name) is working to get the city council’s backing on the town’s involvement, securing between $50K and $100K to get a crack at being part of the show.

Although the next Bachelor has yet to be announced, there are already proposed dates for the stop-by, since filming will begin in September for the season that premieres in January. According to the New Mexican, the show “had dates that started as early as the middle of September," though hotels are worried that blocking off so many rooms would be a problem during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta "because Santa Fe does enjoy some good occupancy from Balloon Fiesta." (Winner for best sentence of the day?)

Since stateside stops happen early in the season, there are many more people to put up in blocks of rooms than later episodes, with around a dozen left before international travel. Considering how eager the council is to overcome a less favorable portrayal of Santa Fe, we recommend that any hopeful Bachelorettes pack all of their faux turquoise jewelry when heading out for their love journey with Arie/Chris/Marquel.

Are you surprised at how much it costs a city to have The Bachelor film there? Hit the comments and dish.